


Hospital

by Pixxyofice



Series: Regrow - A Persona 4 Arcana Swap AU [5]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Arcana Swap (Persona Series), Gen, New Game Plus, but with a twist!, have i had this idea for a while and JUST NOW was able to write it? yes!, hence the use of she/her in the fic by them, is this probably not the most detailed of my work? no., naoto is nonbinary however neither they nor the investigation team know this, purrci uses they/them and those are the right ones, so here u go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:48:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28522695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixxyofice/pseuds/Pixxyofice
Summary: A Hospital.Why did this dungeon have to take the form of a HOSPITAL.Oh look! That's Naoto's Shadow! Focus on that! Talk about that!
Relationships: Konishi Saki & Seta Souji
Series: Regrow - A Persona 4 Arcana Swap AU [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1935223
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	Hospital

Purrci wasn't sure what to expect from the next dungeon.

From what he was told, the person who was thrown in was Naoto Shirogane, the next in line of Shirogane Stitches. That seemed like Naoto was in Kanji's place now, and... well, Purrci didn't know how Naoto's problems and Kanji's history could mix.

He then considered the fact that he was now a giant plushie cat that could walk and was empty on the inside and resigned himself to being surprised.

So here they were, his pawsteps escaping into the foggy air as he followed the feeling of a TV World Dungeon. This time, he made sure to keep his eyes open and in front of him, watching as a form in the distance grew bigger.

It felt familiar. As he slowed to a stop in front of the large building, cute pink decorations splattered around the outside walls and on the ground, that tickling of familiarity kept bugging him. The layout, the formation of the hospital doors...

Hospital doors?

"Isn't this the hospital?" Chie asked, her voice faint to Purrci's ears. "Why is it all pink?"

"'Cause Naoto's the most feminine girl of all the first years." Yosuke crossed his arms, frowning. "Not sure why she has the hospital. Does she want to be a doctor here?"

Kanji placed a hand on Yosuke's shoulder. "Dunno. Do you want to be a pirate? You told me you grew out of that in middle school."

Hospital.

The Hospital.

He almost

_ The beeping slows. He squeezes her hand. No no no this couldn't be happening, that was— _

_ The ripples were showing up on the screen now. The burning in his heart is a mix between a blistering inferno and a freezing chill. Parts of him were screaming at him to stop, but— _

_ His sister— _

_ The frightened cries of a man about to die— _

"Purrci."

The voice is quiet, but it catches his attention above the banter of the other members of the Investigation Team because of how close it was to his ear. The ear that was whispered into twitched, and he turned slightly on his heel to look at Saki, who was looking worried.

"You okay, dude? Your tail's been freaking out."

Purrci immediately stilled his tail, cursing his new body for a moment. It did make sense; cats wagged their tail whenever they felt a lot of something, and he sure was feeling... a lot.

He gave Saki a smile, trying to relax his ears. "It's fine, it's nothing important."

He turned around and walked towards the rest of the group, ignoring Saki trying to say something about how it's definitely something.

"This is the place, huh?" Purrci place a paw on what was his body's equivalent of his hip, remembering to keep his tail still. "Seems like you know this Naoto Shirogane a bit. They seem..." Purrci focused on keeping his tail from quivering as he looked up and down the decorated building.

The Naoto he knew detested pink and loved blue. Would that be a factor in how the dungeon looked later on?

"No reason to delay," Purrci said, with all the reason to delay, "Let's head inside and see what Naoto's all about."

If anyone noticed that he didn't use honorifics, they didn't mention it.

* * *

The hospital was all hallways covered in frills and heavy on the pink— though Purrci noticed that some of the walls of pink had cracks in it that exposed blue. Purrci took a look into one of the hospital rooms and could only see the shape of Nanako and Dojima laying in those beds, even as bright and pink as they were, so he was glad to be at the back of the group this time.

Yukiko was taking to leading well, ambushing shadows with a throw of her fan, followed by a burst of flame from Konohana Sakuya as the group ran in to assist. Purrci would help with lightning, sometimes, and he would watch as Saki's persona lifted a chained, skeletal hand from the stone block it was connected to in order to fire off darkness attacks.

As the group came up on another pair of doors, Purrci sensed a Shadow behind it. Naoto's, if he were to guess by the power he felt.

This was going to be how he first saw the Naoto of this timeline.

He looked over to Yukiko, stopping her from opening the door with a soft, "Hey." As Yukiko and the rest of the group turned their heads towards him, he felt like his leader mask was sliding back on, stilling his tail and trying to look casually confident. "I sense Naoto's Shadow in there. They're probably not going to fight us right away, but it's still best to be cautious."

Yukiko nodded. "Understood."

She slid a hand to her skirt pocket, hand grasped around the fan that was inside, and pushed the door open with one hand. The group filed in after her, eyes focused ahead on the unfocused figure.

This was... an operating room? It was spacious, with a single, flat surface in the middle, and tools hanging on the walls.

"Oh geez," Chie hissed, "Is that a saw? Why is there a saw in here?! That belongs in horror, not... a soap opera!"

"You'd be surprised," Kanji mumbled.

Purrci's eyes focused on a picture that clung to the wall next to him. Most of it was scribbled over, but... were those diagrams on a surgery?

Purrci didn't get time to think about what type as the Shadow approached, the click of heels echoing in the foggy room. The group tensed, watching their movement.

Naoto was...

Purrci bit his lip, cringing a bit.

Naoto was wearing a nurse outfit. A white nursing cap lay on their head, and their blue hair was long, cascading to their lower back. A tight-fitting white dress went to around their knees, and the small cardigan they wore did not distract from the prominent size of their chest. They wore pink heels, which clicked against the floor as they walked a bit closer. They held a clipboard to their chest.

Naoto was smiling. The smile was very strained, pulling at the edges, unnatural for their face. Their eyes curled up, but something about that seemed strained, too.

"Welcome," Shadow Naoto started, their golden eyes gleaming, "To Shirogane Surgeries. I'm here to make your body the best it can be for what you do in life."

"Uh..." Chie stepped back slightly. "I don't like how she said that. Why am I getting a bad feeling about where this could go?"

Yosuke stepped back, squinting. "Better not be a phony doctor. I'd hate that."

Kanji stayed quiet, eyes still on Naoto, though there was some confusion in his eyes. Purrci wasn't sure what that meant, but Naoto took a step forward, heel click sounding in the room again, and his attention was back on them.

"Now, I'd love to hear all about your problems..." Naoto shifted their stance, tapping a pencil on the clipboard. "... as I am a nurse. However, our staff here is currently dealing with another problem."

Naoto tapped on the clipboard again, and a giant shadow started to form next to them. They tried to smile wider, showing teeth that seemed to be quivering slightly. "I'm going to have to put you on hold. Please wait."

With that, Naoto disappeared, and the shadow finished forming, baring its fangs at the group.

"Shit," Yukiko mumbled, and Purrci's eyes darted over to her.

... He'd heard Yukiko swear before, but never in the tone of voice she just did...

He'd managed to forget that this wasn't the Yukiko that he helped save from a castle.

Saki's card shattered, and a blob of darkness energy smashed into the snake shadow with a hiss. Saki dashed across the field, sword held in her hands. The rest of the team followed shortly behind, personas dancing in the air.

* * *

The walls were slowly changing.

What began as a small patch of blue on the first floor spread as they climbed up the stairs to more floors. Even Yukiko noticed the change in the decor, after a while.

She didn't say anything, but she did narrow her eyes and rub a hand up and down her fan with thought.

Their shoes had stilled, resting in an empty hospital room— Purrci was turned away and pretending he was watching for shadows outside— when Yosuke made a loud thinking noise. Purrci heard the group turn towards Yosuke. He turned his ear slightly towards them.

"You wanna say something?" Chie asked, creaking coming from the hospital bedframe as she adjusted her position.

"Think of anything?" Yukiko asked next, with the sound of a fan closing soon after.

"Naoto-chan's problems seem to be related with taking over Shirogane Stitches." Yosuke said, and Purrci couldn't help the flick of his ears.  _ They don't know. _ "Sort of like how I had my, uh..." A big pause. "... Pirate ship."

"Yeah, big nerd that represented how you felt about taking over the Am- Hanamura Inn." Saki said, and a choking noise came out of Yosuke. Kanji started laughing, and Purrci could imagine the black-haired teen holding his midsection and slightly doubling over as he laughed. Purrci continued staring out the door.

"W-Well," Yosuke coughed, "Not like I chose that theme! My subconscious was just like, 'this is the perfect way to represent my feelings!'"

"Nerd." Yukiko said, and Purrci could feel the smile she was fighting.

"ANYWAY," Yosuke voice rose to be louder than the laughter, "I was just wondering! This hospital represents how Naoto-chan sees being the next owner of Stitches, and she said she's here to make our bodies better for our jobs..." There's a pause. "What if that means herself, too?"

There's a bit of silence.

"Probably." Kanji piped up.

Purrci turned his head a bit, saw the hospital bed, and turned back towards the door. He spoke a bit louder to make sure his voice was clear. "That's on the right track, I think. Naoto, they... might be going through turmoil related to wanting to fit in."

Like last time.

Even with the differences, that core was the same.

Saki hummed, but didn't say anything.

"We should continue." Yukiko brushed Purrci's head as she passed by, and Purrci shoved down the feeling of pleasure from being pet.

This body was so much like a cat, even when it could walk on two legs, talk, and, oh yeah, empty inside. Maybe it was because of him?

* * *

"That was..." Kanji struggled for words, his mouth twisting and his brows furrowing. "Odd."

"Naoto-chan just kinda—" Chie waved her hands in the air, the loose sleeves of her blue hoodie bouncing as she did so. "Glitched? Between the nurse outfit and a doctor outfit. It's kinda like how the hospital's, like... slowly changing. To be more blue."

"How does that represent Naoto-chan and how she feels about taking over Shirogane Stitches?" Yosuke hummed, crossing his arms as he thought.

To be fair to Yosuke, Purrci didn't quite know how this Shadow connected to Shirogane Stitches, other than maybe making them hide their interests in another way. But what it definitely was connected to was Naoto's feelings about their gender.

He saw their smile become more genuine, if not still a bit strained, from 'being' the male doctor. Maybe there would be more info later...?

"Dunno." Kanji said with a shrug. "Don't worry your brain with it, we just have to keep goin'."

"True." Yukiko agreed, nodding. "Let's move."

As the rest of the group walked ahead, Purrci started to walk after them when Saki asked, "Why're you referring to Naoto-san with they?"

Purrci paused, his tail and ears poking up. He glanced up to Saki, blinking a bit.

"Well," Purrci thought Saki could get it, "Naoto-kun's nonbinary. They don't really have a gender."

Saki hummed thoughtfully, placing a hand on her chin. 

The footsteps of their teammates were fading slightly.

"Do you think Naoto-kun knows that?"

Purrci opened his mouth.

Purrci closed it.

"You know," Purrci said, placing a paw on his forehead, "I probably should've considered that."

**Author's Note:**

> purrci: man you'd think they'd have a handle on this. they're nonbinary we solved that  
> saki: well I'm not gonna be the one to tell them that but you're more than welcome to
> 
> (thanks cap for discussing this au with me it's so fun)
> 
> there was minimal editing done but i hope it was still enjoyable anyway!


End file.
